Review: Star Wars Adventures #1

So, the Star Wars: Adventures comics are a new venture for the Star Wars franchise, though these comics are officially part of the canon, in spite of not being published by Marvel. These comics, unlike the ones on the Marvel line, seem to be aimed at younger audiences. As usual, we’ll be looking at these first as comics and second as a part of the Star Wars canon.

The art on these comics is certainly a departure from most of the mainline Star Wars comics, though I don’t find it terribly different from say the graphic novel adaptation of The Force Awakens. It’s certainly less out there than the manga adaptation of Lost Stars. It’s definitely a bit more “kid friendly” than the Marvel comics, though perhaps not as simplified as the style they used for the Star Wars: Rebels comic supplements. If they want to pull in slightly younger audiences, I honestly think this was a good way to go. The art is bright and engaging and the text is clear and easy to read. Certainly it’s not for young children, but for kids aged about twelve and up, I think it’s perfect.

Honestly, as much as I enjoy comics aimed at adults, I think writing comics aimed at kids again is a great idea. Every comic book writer talks about how they grew up reading comics, but most mainline comics now are far too dark and complex for anyone much younger than about fifteen. Not that I think current comic books should be dumbed down, but I do think that there is certainly a market for kids’ comics that is not being properly tapped, and I think this comic does a great job at trying to fll that void.

I’m not saying that this comic has no appeal to adults, it certainly does. What I’m saying is that if anyone is looking for a comic to introduce their preteens to the medium, this is a pretty good starter, especially since it has stories that link into both the new movie and older time periods.

Now, moving on to the hardcore Star Wars nerd stuff. Just to be safe, spoiler alert for the whole canon, but I don’t think there’s anything too damaging in here. There are two main stories in copy that I received for review one about Rey on Jakku and one about Obi Wan from back during the Republic. The story about Rey is actually pretty helpful if you were wondering about Constable Zuvio, an individual whom, I believe, has more action figures than Grand Admiral Thrawn, current lead villain of Star Wars: Rebels, in spite of not appearing in a single scene of The Force Awakens (including the deleted ones). Needless to say, fans have been wondering about this character for quite some time, given his marketing presence.

The Obi Wan story is technically framed within the context of being a “Story from Wild Space.” The concept here being that these stories might come from anywhere and are being told/collected by Emil Graf, who is travelling through Wild Space charting planets, I suppose during The Force Awakens timeline. I think the idea has potential to pull a lot of different stories from different timelines, and I’m interested to see where they go with it, though I don’t think it was anything special as far as Obi Wan stories are concerned.

I can understand how my fellow hardcore Star Wars fans might be a bit disappointed by this release. After all, they are the comic equivalent of the animated “Forces of Destiny” shorts, only these don’t seem to be exclusively focused on (non-villainous) female characters. However, given that The Force Awakens, Rogue One and even Disney Channel XD show Star Wars: Rebels are pretty dark, I can see why Disney wants to make something lighter aimed at younger audiences.

As a way to reach out to younger audiences, both for Star Wars and comics themselves, I think that Star Wars: Adventures is pretty successful. Furthermore, it manages to fill in a few gaps in the canon, which is appreciated. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to share Star Wars or comics in general with their kids or are interested in Rey’s life before the movie or Jakku during the time of The Force Awakens. Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

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